Transformers: Generation
by Haeshin
Summary: In one form or another, the Autobots may have hope that their alien race may continue. Now what is the catch to this sudden miracle?
1. Chapter 1: Twilight

Soberly the Autobots removed fragments of tortured steel from the cargo boxes, brushing away the sticks of straw. Perhaps to fit the mood these metal pieces had been transported old-school style, packed tightly down with straw inside boxes of pale wooden planks. The sides were marked with the word 'Fragile' beneath the Autobot insignia.

These were fallen pieces of Cybertron, the planet laid to waste by a war between sentient robotic organisms. An implosion had destroyed most of the Autobots' former world, but fragments of it had fallen in a perceived meteor shower all over the Earth. Confiscating this foreign material, some nations secretly kept them for study while others respectfully sent them on to NEST, the international military force that worked with the Autobots to protect the world's peace. They knew that for the Autobots they had no other home left except Earth. Finding the remnants of Cybertron was akin to finding the remains to a gravestone.

Somewhat ironically, that was exactly what the Autobots planned to make. They had procured a small piece of land near the main NEST base to turn into a memorial site, where graves for their fallen comrades both human and robotic would be buried. At the center of a circle the Cybertron remnants would be used to erect a marker. Inside the base, surrounded by his comrades and open boxes, Optimus Prime sat in grave silence. In similar poses the Autobots were also frozen as they gazed upon the home that would never be again. Cybertron had been reduced to worn, useless pieces of metal. With a sigh Optimus rose from his seat with the fragment in his hands. Bumblebee, who was closest to him, gave a faint start as if surprised by the movement. He also stood with his own armful of Cybertron pieces. One by one, they all did.

The humans who watched couldn't say anything. What could they say? Imagining what it would be like in the Autobots' shoes, they thought of nothing appropriate to speak out loud. The Autobots may have a new home on Earth, surrounded by friends and allies, but it would never be the same as the planet they came from, the one that war forced them to give up and destroy. The sun was actually beginning to rise at this hour. Grayish casts of blue, lavender, and orange were fading with the very last of the stars of the sky, and stubbornly the moon remained for just a while longer. Optimus led the way along a path stripped of greenery towards a circle of white marble pillars, each set on the edge of a round platform pressed into the ground. The memorial was set in a field of pale grasses and most appropriately forget-me-not flowers with their vivid blue petals. Along the sides of the path humans stood looking on in quiet.

It wasn't a formal ceremony, the Autobots had desired none. The people who were there had chosen to come, strictly for the sake of the friends and family they had lost in the Autobot-Decepticon clashes, and also out of respect for the Autobots' lost home. They had come as friends and allies that wished to give them emotional support. Optimus appreciated that, for it was a great comfort to have more than just military comrades. It also bolstered his faith in humankind.

Piece by piece, the Cybertron fragments were laid together in a design that resembled a combination between the Autobot and NEST symbols. Jolt and Ratchet took care of the welding, and their combined work allowed the memorial piece to be steadily erected in one go. As each Autobot gave up their Cybertron parts, they stepped back to allow others to go forward. The wood and straw of the packing boxes had been laid before the memorial piece. The plan was to use the Matrix of Leadership to light a fire, one that would be kept perpetually burning. A simple mark would also be made on the main part of the memorial piece. To do this only Optimus remained within the circle of pillars. He opened his chest and brought out the Matrix of Leadership, gleaming with a particular silver-blue in the weak morning sunlight. It slowly revolved as it levitated from Optimus' hand to the kindling. First the mark, then the fire. Optimus carefully clenched the Matrix in his fingers to make that line.

The tip of the Matrix was pressed against the memorial piece. Optimus put in the pressure necessary to make a mark, and prepared to pull the Matrix down to create the line.

He got as far as tilting the Matrix at an angle. That's when the sparks began to fly, and longer branches of lightning energy drew out to slide one end along Optimus' front to the sides of the memorial piece. Onlookers would have cried out if Optimus hadn't jerked back his hand. Clearly this was not supposed to happen.

Optimus! said Jazz. What's wrong? I don't know, came the rapidly spoken reply. The Matrix is acting on its own! Optimus couldn't touch it without being struck by the branches of energy that stung and rejected him. Visible waves of energy were being generated by the Matrix of Leadership. They blurred the fine lines of whatever lay in a person's field of vision as if their eyes were open underwater.

The ground and sky began to rumble. They could feel it, they could hear it. The crowd of humans began surging away from the memorial, partly ushered along by the Autobots to prevent a mass panic that would lead to casualties. They also acted as shields in case the branches of energy got out and were destructive.  
>Optimus, get away from there!<p>

Bumblebee! Away, away, away! Get to a safe distance, hurry! Hey, what's going on! When we know then you'll know!

Optimus wondered, Is the Matrix reacting to the Cybertron remains?

The Matrix of leadership was spinning now, and it only went faster with every second. It became a blurred sphere of dull silver and electric blue, threatening to snap off the part of anyone who touched it. The energy branches were drawn in to the main part of the memorial piece until it was glowing the brightest, palest blue ever to strike their eyes. Panels of the same color shot out between the marble columns and evoked cries of panic as they washed over the Autobots and the human crowd, first going from toe to head and then reverse. The waves promptly snapped back to their source, the spinning Matrix of Leadership. They fired a single beam into the main part of the memorial piece.

That's when the trembling of air and earth became especially intense. Even Optimus could feel the heat, and had to be dragged away by Jazz and Ratchet. The rest of the Autobots braced themselves for an explosion, for what else could that fierce rumble mean?

And there was an explosion of sorts, really just a powerful shockwave that rolled in all directions with a flat THOOM. It shook the pillars of the memorial, the earth, and the NEST base in the distance, moving the cars and transport planes parked outside. Miraculously nothing broke; the greatest extent of damaged was some fractured glass.

When eyes were on the Matrix again, they saw it more slowly spinning in midair. With every turn the lines of bluish light were drawn further out, weaving together a blueprint grid that held a three-dimensional human form. Autobots and humans watched in stunned silence as the model was fashioned from the inside-out, drawing in transparency the parts of a typical Autobot, then laying on exterior armor attachments. The final layer was a human form, roughly that of a young adolescent male. The main part of the memorial piece liquified. It was drawn as a formless blob into the center of the chest area, where it was spread out to fill in the innermost parts. Like the weaving lines the Cybertron fragment filled in the model at the center and worked its way out. At the completion of the task they had the sculpture of a human male dressed in a shirt, tie, pants, and shoes scanned off the humans attendees. Coloring came next. Also scanned off the humans that had been there, the Matrix gave the model bushy dark blond hair, Caucasian white skin, golden eyebrows and lashes fringing the eyes that were the last to be done. After the whites the irises were painted a bright, laser-blue color that matched the eyes of the Autobots. The Matrix emitted a soft white flash that caused the eyes to briefly glow, and the two lips parted to let out a breath. Both shoulders slumped at the same time. The modeled boy abruptly fell over with a muffled 'oof!'.

Ratchet blinked and looked over at Optimus. Bumblebee poked his head out from behind Sideswipe in a curious gaze, now that whatever danger there had been was gone. The Matrix of Leadership lazily floated back to Optimus, who without thinking took it back into his chest. With wordless grunts the boy picked himself up. He swayed on his feet, unsure of his balance, only now learning to stand. He was in danger of falling over again, so Optimus quickly extended a hand and the boy toppled against his jointed fingers instead, holding them with both arms. In surprise the boy raised his head. Staring at Optimus for a short moment, the boy pushed against the Autobot's hand and windmilled his arms to gain a sense of balance. He managed to gain one, more or less, and lifted his eyes again while holding his arms out a little in wary precaution. The boy and Optimus stared at each other for a long time.

Then, inexplicably, the boy's face split into a happy, innocent grin.

'He was the first of his kind', and so we thought.


	2. Chapter 2: After Superman

It was obvious enough to everyone: What they had on their hands was a five-foot-five, human-looking, actually robotic infant who had just learned how to walk. So, uh, what exactly is he? While he kept his eyes on the tottering robot boy, Brigadier General David Arlington spoke through one corner of his mouth at one of the Autobots. He'd been sent over to observe what might be the first alien birth on Earth, and a mechanical alien at that. The implications were...well, they didn't know what to think, but it was enough to drag him away from his usual post at the nearest army base.

"Whoa, whoa, hey! Put that down!" The boy was holding a heavy missile in the air while he looked under it, presumably to study the missile's container. He turned his head and looked over with curiosity in his eyes while the missile was in midair. Not understanding the cries to 'put it down!', or even the more coaxing version of it given by the Autobots, the boy glanced up at the missile that he held in both hands. He lowered it for a closer look, then began to shake the missile like a maraca. His grin widened as he began having fun.

"Oh my god," a soldier groaned. " We're gonna get our asses blown up by a robot baby! Everybody clear out!"

'Don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep...' The missile-shaking stopped at the sound of catchy music. Heads turned and eyes stared at Bumblebee, who was swaying dramatically in time to the Aerosmith music. 'Cause I'd miss you, babe, and I don't wanna miss a thing...' A new smile planted itself on the boy's face. He was surprised when Sideswipe gently removed the missile from his hands, but he didn't try to get it back. (Thank goodness.) Bumblebee turned up the volume a bit to regain the boy's attention.

"Great," someone said breathlessly. " Aerosmith as lullabies. Shoulda thought of that with my kid."

" As far as we can tell," said Ratchet, "the boy only looks human. Tap him and you'll hear the clank of metal instead of organic flesh. His interior is Cybertronian."

" Are you sure, Ratchet?"

" Just about. Whether he is really a Cybertronian in any other way we'll never know unless he shows us, Ratchet answered. Developmentally the child's a newborn."

" Certain higher-ups are banging on our doors to know what the heck happened out there," a soldier said.

"We are in the dark as much as yourself," said Optimus. A sideways went towards the boy.

"He, uh...is that how...you know, how Cybertronians are born?" David asked. Come to think of it, how did that happen? How did Cybertronians reproduce, if they did at all? It was too awkward to think about in deeper detail.

"That is NOT the way," Ratchet said flatly.

"Then what is he? A freak accident? No offense."

" None taken. And we'll soon find out. Here comes one experiment." A gold-colored truck was driven into the Autobots' hangar, one 2008 Ford Ranger. Bumblebee stopped the song so the boy could be attracted to this new toy, which the soldier driving it quickly abandoned while taking the keys with him. Autobots and humans alike leaned forward with their full attention on the boy and the truck.

"What exactly is he supposed to do with the truck?" David asked.

"We'll see."

Bumblebee gave an example. He transformed from Autobot to car, then car to Autobot, then Autobot to car, reverse and repeat. This process was repeated as slowly as possible three exact times. The boy appeared to watch every part of it with unwavering attention. After the third time Bumblebee patted the top of the truck's cab. Clunk, clunk, clunk. The boy's eyes were bright with interest.

When he did nothing Bumblebee repeated the transformation and patted the truck again. The boy widened his smile, and he put out his hand to pat the truck's hood three times like Bumblebee. At the third pat he let his hand rest there on the glossy paint.

Thin lines carved out the boy's entire body into mechanical parts. They popped out half an inch as a blue wave washed over the Ford Ranger truck and split that apart too. Slow but steady, without any pause, the jointed pieces of the truck turned over in the air and closed down on the boy as his own body was further pushed apart. Bluish light gleamed for a second through every line as the final stage of the transformation was set. Straightening on feet of steel, the Cybertronian boy stood nearly as tall as Bumblebee, slimmer and smaller in design than the other Autobots. He was golden in color just as the truck had been.

"Oh, stream-lined," said Dino. "Isn't he a bit piccolo, though?" Though if he was truly an infant then his size made sense. They studied each other for a minute, and then Bumblebee shifted into vehicle mode. The boy took a while to follow his example. He didn't seem to be experienced in the transformation department, and he refused to go quickly in case he made a mistake. The boy liked vehicle mode. He honked the horn twice and vroo-ooomed the engine to his pleasure. Hearts leapt inside human chests as the truck went this way, then that way, swerving in half-circles, somehow rearing on his back wheels, bucking like a bronco, then he suddenly made a beeline for the open entrance at one end of the hangar.

"Stop him!" cried Ratchet. The boy-truck was going fast, and at that speed he'd soon crash into the human city. Humans quickly jumped out of the way; the Autobots sprang to tackle the boy-truck if need be to stop him. A sort of obstacle appeared in the form of a dark-haired boy as he came in through the doorway. David Arlington felt his heart stop. "REID!" he shouted. He'd told his son to stay in the car!

Reid Arlington saw the golden truck speeding towards him and yelled.

Most, most luckily for Reid and everyone else, the short practice session paid off. Quickly switching to Autobot form, the boy catapulted himself over Reid's head and missed him by a hair. Sparks flew at the boy's landing outside the hangar. He made bleeping noises similar to Bumblebee when his voice box had been damaged, and it sounded like noises of distress. It wasn't that the boy was hurt, he had never scraped metal before. His near miss of Reid Arlington, followed by the snap transformation and the fall, it confused his very young mind. The boy didn't fully understand his three separate forms.

On hands and knees, he flung his head in the direction of the human city. Uttering a low-pitched vooo, the newborn Autobot gazed in confusion at the skyscrapers standing tall. Where was he? What was this? He had been taken straight from the memorial site to the Autobots' hangar. What was happening to him? There were too many things to understand all at once. Easy, child, easy, Optimus soothed. The boy turned to look at him with sad and bewildered eyes. Come in now, where it's safe. Come on. That's it... Tentative to do anything now, the boy half-crawled into the hangar. He managed to transform back into truck, but then he hesitated to shift further into a human boy. He backed away a little and seemed to tremble.

"Reid!" David rushed over to grab his son by the arm. He half-noticed Reid snatching his arm out of reach. "I told you to stay in the car!"

" For how long?" Reid shot back. "It's been over a half hour!" He looked over to the gathering around a golden truck. "What the heck is that?"

" That...may be an infant Autobot," said David.

...Uh-huh. Reid was clearly a skeptic. "Well...poor kid."

" Yes. Must be tough being a baby robot that can transform into three separate things, "David sighed. "Get back to the car, Reid. You're not supposed to see this. "

'I will show you the world...' The Autobots surrounded the boy to reassure him, and Bumblee had apparently taken up the position as lullaby player. Reid made a face.

"Uh, sure." Anything to get away from the awkward nursery being put together. "Good luck... Don't forget to name it...him...whatever." He made a beeline to get out of the place.

...Oh. David looked up at Optimus. "Does he have a name?" he asked.

"Ah, well..." Optimus turned his gaze to the golden truck. The trembling had stilled as the boy had calmed down. The Autobots were coaxing him back into human form. "What do you say?"

"How about Goldie?" Sideswipe joked.

"Sparky!" The piping voice came from below. Brains hadn't really grown much, as he didn't have the ability to. "Gotta name him Sparky. Fits his sparky self, doesn't it? He's all over the place. "

"Be serious now, Brains," Optimus lightly chided.

"How about Superman?" a soldier joked, joining in on the humor. "C'mon, man, we're not actually serious. But it sorta fits the general details. An alien born okay, fine, so Superman was actually born on Earth, but you know what I mean! Like I said, an alien born on Earth, raised by humans-Okay, so a combination of robots and humans! Look," he said hotly, "the robot kid's got superpowers beyond human capability just like Superman, and look how the hero turned out. He's a worldwide, well-loved hero, ain't he? A super-powered Boy Scout." Some of the men chortled.

"You can't name him 'Superman'! It doesn't fit him as a human OR an Autobot! Besides...the color doesn't match," someone said critically.

"Personally, I'm more of a Batman fan. "

"How can you be a Batman fan? The dude's super rich and gloomy as hell. "

"Who says it's a bad thing being super rich?"

" It doesn't if it don't help him get laid. That is, he could but he doesn't use it. What the heck is up with that?"

" Be serious now!" Ratchet exclaimed. "Naming an infant is serious business."

"Sort of hard to be serious when his shortest height is five-foot-five..."

" Sort of a giant baby then, huh?"

Optimus asked of David, "What is the actual name of this Superman?"

David blinked at him. "Superman?" he said. This general was the proud father of two daughters, and his only son had just been adopted a week ago at the (estimated) age of sixteen. "Er, Clark Kent, I believe." The superhero icon was famous enough for David to know. "Why do you ask?"

" The idea of an alien well loved by humans appeals to me," the Autobots leader said. " Also, he does look like a human when he chooses." Again he stared at the boy in silence.

"It doesn't sound very...Autobot-ish, Optimus," said Sideswipe. "I'm not insulting the humans, but he's a Cybertronian. Shouldn't he have a Cybertronian name?"

" Just tack it with the human one," Brains put in. " He born here. That means he's human too in the birthplace sense, if y'know what I mean."

" I know, I know," said Optimus. A Cybertronian born on Earth...what an ideal way of symbolizing their coexistence with the humans, and to anchor Earth as their new and forever home. Now while Optimus considered the options, the boy recovered his energetic personality.

Bumblebee had begun playing a virtual soundtrack and the boy was picking up his dance moves. His fun-loving ways were infectious; humans and Autobots alike were starting to play around too. They experimented with what dance moves they could get the boy to learn from them. A few were caught between doubling over in laughter and trying to decently reproach everyone for being a bad influence. But who could be serious in the face of the hokey pokey?

At last Optimus made his choice. He discussed it among the other Autobots before finalizing it.  
>Aegis Clark Prime. Or just Clark, to help him fit in with the humans.<p>

Igor skittered along the shadows of an abandoned factory. Dragging the scrap computer parts he carried would create too loud a noise, so he had to balance it on top of his round body as he carried it through the darkened rooms.

"Here we are, here we are," he chortled hoarsely. The computer parts were dumped and spread about the floor. An overhead light flickered on to illuminate the broken body of Decepticon Starscream. Igor used a small welding tool to attach computer parts to what little remained of Starscream's head. The Decepticon had long since died during the battle at Chicago, where Sentinel Prime had attempted to use transport pillars to summon Cybertron to Earth. Igor had escaped due to his lack of significance; he'd barely been noticed by Megatron himself, who he had first treated, and no one had noticed him after the Decepticon leader was again destroyed. With no one to repair now, Igor was experimenting with Starscream's remains. He was fascinated with the capabilities and potential of modern human technology.

Busy tinkering at the remodel of Starscream's head, Igor didn't see two red eyes gleam.


End file.
